Bebe Buell & Cameron Crowe Talk Magazine

Wild Things: Cameron Crowe and Bebe Buell The kid writer and the beautiful rock chick knew each other for real, when it was all happening. Will the real Penny Lane please stand up? Kate Hudsons careerma ing per!ormance in Almost Famous is based partially on a person who really did e"ist# !ormer $ord model% Playboy playmate% and roc er Bebe Buell% whos also the mother o! mo&ie star% Li& Tyler' Li e Famous Penny% Buell was ne&er a (groupie') Writer*director Cameron Crowe understood this% and cle&erly dubbed the wonder!ul% &ibrant% independent girls who li&ed and died !or roc +n roll% (Band ,ids') (We inspire the bands%) Penny says in the !ilm' -uch was the case !or Bebe% !or whom Crowe named the character% .e!! Bebe% /lead singer o! the !ictional band% -tillwater0 in the !ilm' Bebe and Todd 1undgren% whose seminal Something/Anything album appears in the !ilms opening credits% li&ed together !rom 2345 to 2346' Crowe went on the road with them in 2347' 8n her re!reshingly !unny and candid memoir% Rebel eart! An American Rock n Roll "ourney% which -t' 9artins Press will publish this summer% Buell recalls those heady days o! post-Hullabaloo with 9ic and Keith% Bowie and 1od% ,erosmith% and :l&is Costello' The boo % written with ;ictor Boc ris% was planned long be!ore the mo&ie' ,ll good (Band-,ids) now about timing' Cameron Crowe# <o you remember =eal Preston ta ing all those pictures o! you% me and Todd in =ew >or City in 2347? They completely catch that whole time ? me being able to lea&e home and go to =ew >or ' Bebe Buell# 8 remember you being with us' 8 thought you always loo ed li e Todds little brother' 8t was so much !un@

CC# , couple o! the pictures were on the wall when we mar ing the mo&ie' Two o! the people in the picture loo timeless' Ane is Bust stuc in 47' That would be me' >ou and Todd e"ist in any time' BB# 8t was an innocent% magical time' CC# >ou did an inter&iew with #o$o% in which you told a great story about going to a -tones concert with your mom' 8t had all the innocence ? that whole !eeling that youd Boined the circus' BB# 8 started something in this &ery sedate crowd' ,nd 8 went marching up there with my 8nstamatic camera because 8 wanted a picture o! Brian .ones in that pinstripe suit playing harmonica' 8t was a &ision' 8 did it% 8 remember being rescued by Keith 1ichards' When youre 22 years old% and that happens% it lea&es a lasting impression' 8 wanted to be rescued again and again' CC# 8n the screenplay &ersion% theres a longer speech that Kate Hudson ga&e that 8 must say is a tribute to Bebe' 8ts about how she !irst went to a concert and almost got crushed but was sa&ed and pulled up on stage' The idea was Kate was sa&ed and pulled bac stage' They ga&e her a Co e and a lemon% and she ne&er went home' BB# 8 always thought your story Cin Rolling StoneD on Todd was going to be a co&er story' CC# -o did 8' BB# ,nd -tillwater seemed li e Todd% Peter $rampton% and Bad Company all rolled into one' ,nd Penny lane was li e a lot o! women 8 met% with a roc n roll grandeur' CC# >ou and Todd both were these towering !igures' ,nd we were all so young' BB# 8 wondered in the mo&ie i! it was Todd who denied e&erything'

CC# =o that was combination' There was a =eil >oung co&er tory that 8 wor ed on but at the last minute% he said% +>oure a nice guy% but 8 dont want to be on the co&er% and 8m telling Rolling Stone 8 ne&er authoriEed this story' 8 had to call his manager /:lliot 1oberts0 and he went bac to =eil' -ome o! that was the basis o! the story' BB# 8 lo&ed it because you !inally made such a real roc n roll mo&ie' 8 started to cry when 8 realiEed you named the singer .e!! Bebe' CC# There were so many clues' Perhaps you noticed the timehonored Something/Anything cassette in the opening credits? BB# >our wi!e% =ancy% did most o! the music !or this? CC# -he did the guitar interludes and then we wrote the -tillwater stu!!% which means 8 said% +Lets rip o!! Bad Company' BB# 8 !eels real% not li e %el&et 'oldmine% but completely authentic' CC# %el&et 'oldmine !elt li e a !ans !antasy mo&ie' Todd Haynes had the same ind o! dri&e% but 8 wanted this to !eel more li e a diary or a collection o! arti!acts !rom the inside loo ing out' BB# The best line in the whole mo&ie is when $rances 9c<ormand goes% +1oc stars ha&e captured my son' The other great line is% +8ts all happening' 8snt that !rom Kim $owley and 1odney Bingenheimer? CC# >oure e"actly right' 8 got it by way o! 9ichelle 9eyer' BB# -he was the best@ Theyd all go +8ts all happening' Fodhead@ Fodhead@ CC# 8 !orgot about +Fodhead@ <amn@ Tal # Was your mother li e $rances in the mo&ie? CC# -he is' -he was a pro!essor at -an <iego City College' 9y mom could !ill a couple o! mo&ies' -hes seen this one li e 7G times'

BB# 8&e seen it at least !i&e times' 8 cry e&ery time the (Tiny <ancer) part comes in' CC# 8t actually happened% but to CLed HeppelinIsD (Whole Lotta Lo&e') 8 thin it was with the 9arshall Tuc er Band' 8 always lo&ed (Tiny <ancer%) though because it !elt so much o! the time' Tal # <id your mother really lie to you about your age? CC# -he did% and my sister still cant belie&e the dialogue is right' 8 ne&er !orgot that con&ersation when my sister !orced my mom into telling me' 8d s ipped !i!th grade and gone straight to si"th% so 8 was 2G in si"th grade' 8 !igured it was o ay to be one year younger% but they pulled o&er in my moms country sedan and told me it was two years younger' BB# 8 also lo&ed the way you portray women in the mo&ie' >our lo&e and respect !or women shine through% especially women in roc n roll' 8 lo&e it when Kate Hudson goes +8m not a groupie' 8 used to say the same thing% +8m not a groupie' 8m a patron o! the arts@ CC# 8 always saw them Cthe JBand-,idsJD as muses' 8 remember when 8 met you% you treated me as an eKual@ >ou were as much o! a participant in the creation and inspiration o! the music as some o! the musicians in the bands' BB# There was such an intelligence to Kates per!ormance% a romance% and magic% li e the scene where shes ironing during the !ight' -ometimes 8 Bust had to be a !ly Con the wallD' CC# Ar the carrier o! messages' T,LK# Was anyone really sold !or Heine ens and LG dollars?

CC# >es% and she !inally sur!aced' -he was !rom -an <iego and she wrote us on our website' -he was with King Crimson and was sold !or beer to the ,llman Brothers' BB# Ah my goodness' 8 ne&er witnessed one o! those wagers' But 8 now there was that cruelty' The wi&es would show up and the girls would ha&e to stand there and act li e they didnt e&en now the guy' CC# The strength it too !or the girl whos going to stay there and eep her dignity and not let the mas o! sadness show too much' 8 used to watch old ,udrey Hepburn mo&ies or -hirley 9acLaine in The Apartment% and there was this great Kuality they had' They would belie&e in romance% and ha&e their pri&ate romances stay pri&ate' But in public% they would wal away with their heads held high' 8 lo&e that' BB# 8 showed the mo&ie to my mother and my cousin and they completely adored it' T,LK# <id you tell them this was your li!e? BB# =o@ 8n some ways it was% and in some ways it wasnt' CC# 8 thought that Penny Lane probably read about Bebe in Rock Scene and wanted to be Bebe% but she was !rom -an <iego' BB# But she had that sense o! grandeur' >ou ha&e to carry yoursel! li e youre the Mueen o! -heba' Because in order to be a roc wi!e% youre !ighting o!! L%GGG girls e&ery second@ CC# $or these women li e Bebe and e&en Patti -mith when she was doing roc Bournalism% it was about the music' The music was e&erything' BB# 8t was the guys that made the !uss' They wanted to ha&e the relationships' 8 would ha&e been per!ectly happy Bust lo&ing the music'

CC# ,nd thats what Kate caught on to' BB# The de&il-may-care attitude' 8t was the guys who decided who they wanted to meet@ 8ts not always the girls who are on the prowl' CC# >ears later% 8 would run into one o! these guys' Within a minute hed say% +<o you remember that girl? Ha&e you tal ed to so and so? Their memory o! that time is tied to those girls' BB# 8 lo&e the part in the mo&ie when Kate is Bust twirling around in all the debris o! the concert ' -he has this loo on her !ace li e% +Ah my Fod@ + 8 once did that in 9adison -Kuare Farden' 8 couldnt belie&e how small it loo ed without anybody in it' 8t loo ed li e a bas etball court' These rooms Bust come to li!e and loo so huge and &ibrant when theyre !illed with people@ CC# >es% and the memory o! what happened in that room an hour or two or three earlier is power!ul' ,nd Kate really got that' That my !a&orite part' T,LK# Cameron% were you disappointed that Almost Famous didnt do better at the bo" o!!ice? 8ts con!ounding' CC# There was a moment when 8 new a lot o! people werent going to see it in the mo&ie theatre' ,nd 8 remember &ery distinctly !eeling what 8 didnt want to ha&e happen was a !inger-pointing session' 8t li&es !ore&er and 8m thrilled 8 got to ma e it' <a&id Fe!!en lo&ed the mo&ie' Hes &ery proud that <reamWor s made it' ,ll o! them were incredibly supporti&e' 8! youre a guy who ma es a mo&ie about the precious time be!ore commercialism was the biggest story in town% and then you complain that it didnt do well% youre a hypocrite' 8! !uc ing Bebe Buell lo&es it and remembers twirling around% 8 wal away happy@ Courtesy o! Talk magaEine ? -pecial Collectors 8ssue ? 9arch% 5GG2